Connector for electric conductors.



position. is a' CONNETR FOR ELECTRIC CONEUCTORS.

.pplication leri January 15, i913.

To all eci/.om t muy concern Be it linon'n that l, Hosea l?. MAXIM, acitizen of the United States`r residing at llorfolli. in tlie county oliNorfolk and State of Virginia. llave iure -ted certain nenv and usefulimprovements in Connectors for Electric Conductors, of which thefollowing is a specication, eifel-ence being had tlierein to theaccompanying drawing. l

invention relates to improvements in for electrical conductorsparticular to time comin-only l tli dry cells and ineans of Wliicliconnecting Wires may be quiclljT and easil; connected to or disconnectedfrom the carbon and zinc terminals Jl: ti e cells. The clip is alsoadapted to be placed en any piece of electrical apparatus Where it isdesirable to attacli a Wire to an electrical. con-` duct-or.

i attached, one to tlieicar zinc terniinrd7 and in liner normal ien' isnowing tlie conductor c ngagng spring. my improved terminal folded Zfacilitate paolzing or" the cell tor Fig. 3 is a elevation of improv Sli3 e `conductor detaclied. Fin. e is a nersnective View of the conductorplate. l? end elevation ot a plate sini 1 to that shown in l'ig. e butof slightlyv modified forni. Fig. 6 is a perspective vien oit the springremove from tlie plate. .7 is a,

fragmentary eleration or a dry cell showing two of my spring clips of.modilied forni, one attached to the' zinc and tlie other to the carbonterminals. W

l* ig. S is a View similar to F 6 showing tlie modified forni of clipsfolded parallel to the top oi' the cell..A

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of' one of my clips attached to a carbonpost.

.ln the drawings tlie numeral l indicates a dry cell vof tlie"well-known erom te* ninal of tlic inclosed cell. cell illustrated inFigs. l.

Speocatou of :Letters Patent.

iatented Jan. 353. lil.

Serial No. ?2,:250.

carbon or" the cell is not sliown, it being capped by a flat disk ofconducting metal 2 positioned in the center of the cell and serving asthe positive terminal. The form ot clip illustrated in Figs. l to Sinclusive coinprises a body in the forni ot a fiat strip 3 of brass orother conducting material of sulostantially rectangular form, onecorner,however7 being beveled ol1 at for Vthe purpose hereinafter described.liole 5 is drilled through the strip at the end adjacent tlie'beif'eledcti corner el. Two slits 6 and 7 re eut in tue bedT of tlie clip belowthe pening 5 approximately one-third of the istance in troni eacli sideand parallel to t-.e longer sides of tlie rectangle. The metal it eacliside of tlie two slits is formed outward at each side tl-e verticalplane containing the Astrip as in nig. or entirely at one side of theplane as illustrated in Fig. 5. The body part described can beconsidered as having two parts7 (in this case formed integrally), thelower part being adapted for attachment to tlie battery and the ugperpart being adapted for the engagement of tlie conductor Wire.

The conductoengaging spring is shaped 6 lining one end 8 eX- 'roni tliedou'ole coils 9.

as illusti ted in nig. t vding tangential e otaer end extends radiali)v`from the coil t approiziinatel;Y flo to tlie end 8 and is bent ack uponitself to foi-in a finger lO, the end l extending Witliin the coils 9.

n assembling tlie clips the lstraight end 8 of tlie conductor engagingspring is inserted Wi yliin tlie bearing formed in the plate 3 by themetal beingformed away from the cuts 5 and l as illustrated in Fig. 3.The coil is positioned at the sides or the rectangular plate opposite tothe beveled corner 4 so that the linger -piece l0 formed of the doubleWire extends upon each side of the strip 3 up above tlie opening 5.llflien pressure is eX-i erted on the outer end of the linger piece 10,'the coil spring is compressed and the linger is permitted to passdownward along each side of the strip to points loelonv the opening wirecondu r may, then be inserted Within the opening 5. and then onreleasing Aper .edge vof the opening.

the finger, its spring action forces it upward pressing the wire intocontact with the up The corner 4 is beveled away from the upper cornerof the plate 8 so as to prevent injuryv to the operators finger when thespring finger 10 is pressed downward. If this were not beveled away, thesharp corner would come in contact withv the operators linger. The lowerportion of the plate 3. is bent at right angles as illustrated in Figs.1 and 2 when it is desired to position the clip on the carbon terminals.When the clip is to be attached to the zine terminal as illustratedinFigs. 1 or 2, the plate is not bent but is secured in a verticalposition.

4 One' of the .disadyantages of the? well. known types of spring clipsis, that in shipping theyI are liable to disengagement resultingfrom'cogntact with adjacent batteries or with the top; or bottom of theretaining box. I have provided in my clip an i1nprovemnet whereby suoliinjury is obviated v'and the vertical height of the battery Inateriallydecreased when it is prepared for shipment. As before noted, the bearingpro` vided in the .,Vertiealbody 3 for the reception of the end 8 of thespring' clip is forined by punching out either upon both sides or uponone side of the Vertical plane of the body. a. small tongue of metal. Inassem-l blingythe clip the end 8 of the spring' is inserted -in thebearing, while the body of the spring is positioned at right angles tothe body part. It is then turned upon the end 8 as an axis and thespring fingerl) elevated until one side of the' finger passes over thesquaredv corner 11 of the upper end of the body opposite to the beveledcoi-nere. The resiliency of the coilthen causes the finger to be drawndown over'the corner 11 securely holding the spring in position.When,^however, the cellsfare to be 'packed for shipment, the finger israised up over the corner and swung about the end 8 as an axis until itlies approximately horizontalas illustrated'in Fig. 2, thus ma teriallydecreasing the over-all height oi' the. cell.

In Figs.l 7, 8 and 9 I have illustrated al modified form of my clip inwhich the two parts or sections of the body of the clip are formedlseparately and hinge-connected together upon the end 8 of the spring asa pintle. The general arrangement of the springy conductor engagingfinger, .the conductor opening, etc., are similar to the previouslydescribed clips. The body of the clip is divid'cdat approximatelyitstrans verse center into -the two halves 12 and 13. The adjacent, edgesof the two halves are provided with alined openings through whichthestraight end 8 of the spring clip 'parts bent at right angles andattached to a battery car-bon as illustrated inFig/s. 'i'

and 8, or it may be attached vertical to 'the outer shell oit a cell asshownin the same figures. It is obvious that by means of? hinging thetwo parts this elipis adapted to be 'fastened to conductors of variousshapes and sorts to which the ordinary type of clip could not beattached without modiiin cation. i v

F ig.- 8 illustrates a furthery advantage possessed by this hinge clipin .which it is adapted to be turned upon its'hinge to a horizontalposition when the cell. is te be shipped thereby decreasing the heightci the cell even more than is possible with the type of clip previouslydescribed.

-What I claim is:

1. In a 'connector for electric conductors, the combination of a body;and a vertically vibrating spring cooperating with thev body part toengage a conductor, the saidspring the body on a horizontal axislyinginthe.r

plane of the vibrations ot the spring.

3.In a connector for electrieconductors, thecombination of a flat bodyand a' con.n ducftor-engaging spring vibrating vertically .insubstantially the same plane as the body,

one end of the said siring being horizon- 'tally pivotally mounted. onthe lower part of the body on an axis lying in the plane thereof.

4. In a connector 'forv electric conductors, the combination of a iatbody, and e. conn ductor-engaging springu positioned to vibratevertically in substantially the same plane as the body and pivotallyconnected to the lowerpart thereof on a horizontal asis lying in theplane thereof. n

5. In a connector for electrical coi'iducu tors, the combination of twoflat sections hinge-connected, and a narrow conductor engaging springmounted. uponfone of the said sections to vibrate substantially in thesame plano as that'determined by the iiet section towhich it is secured.

6. In a. connector for electrical com i'luen groesse l 3 fors, thecombination of iwo separa'ne seo tions provided with axialiy alinedopenings along adjacent edges, and a conduoon engaging spring, one endof fue saic spring being inserted Within the said openings to form apintie whereby the two seoions are hinged together.

7. En a eonneetor for elect-rioni conductors, the Combination of twohinged seolo tions, e conductorengaging spring mounted upon one of thesai sections, one end of the said springserving as a pintle for the saidhinge connection.

HOSEA F. MAXIM.

TWitnesses Mon LEVY, J. L. MITCMLL'.

